Star Barnes' Writing Blog

Summary: Steve came home from the war to a wife that could not deal with the emotionally, mentally, and physically changed man before her. Dealing with it the only way he knew how, Steve buried himself in his work. After saving hundreds of lives in one heroic act, Steve finds himself put on bodyguard duty. Also known as a glorified babysitter.
It wasn’t easy being the daughter of insanely rich and successful businessman, Phil Coulson. After multiple death threats, your overbearing, worries-too-much father decides you need a bodyguard.
Word Count: 943
Warnings: Language, angst, blood, violence, explicit sexual content, possibly more to come.
Author’s Note: GIF Credit found on Google Images without a source.

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My work is not to be posted on any other sites (AO3, Wattpad, etc.) without my express written permission. Reblogs are fine.

Steve’s back was straight, shoulders squared, hands clasped behind his back, chin raised, eyes drilling into a spot on the wall above his commanding officer’s head. He had just been informed that due to his heroic actions the previous Friday, all of his current cases would be transferred to other officers while he went on protective duty.

His charge was Y/N Coulson, and apparently, her life was in danger. Her father, Phil, was a successful businessman, perhaps too successful for his own good. Success brought enemies knocking on the door, and with old man Coulson refusing to cooperate, to bend to his enemy’s whims, his daughter had started receiving threats of all kinds.

Everything Steve had heard about Y/N made him cringe. She was a spoiled rich kid that partied all night and slept all day. She was on the cover of every tabloid magazine in New York, drinking, driving while intoxicated, getting arrested, going to rehab. There was even a quickie wedding in Vegas, followed by an annulment less than a month later; all while Steve was overseas, fighting a war that claimed the lives of his best friends, his brothers. In fact, he would have died if it hadn’t been for Bucky –

“Did you hear me, Rogers?” Pepper demanded to know, yanking Steve from his thoughts.

“Yes, ma’am,” he ground out, Irish accent thick on his tongue. “When do I start, ma’am?”

“Tomorrow morning you will report to Coulson Industries,” she informed him. “Seven am, sharp.”

Steve dipped his chin in confirmation. “Yes, ma’am.” With his molars grinding, Steve turned, and walked across the room.

“And Steve,” Pepper murmured as Steve’s hand fell to the door handle. “Act as if you actually care about her safety.”

“Will do, ma’am,” he said with a tight smile.

“C’mon,” Steve grit out, a hand raking through his hair as the line continued to ring.

Sharon had never let it ring that long before. It had either been sent to voicemail or she had disconnected the call long before. Then again, Sharon had changed in the last eighteen months since Steve had come home.

“Answer the fuckin’ phone.”

Half a ring later, her breathy voice greeted him. “Steve? Wha- what time is it?”

“Shit, love,” he muttered, the digital numbers on the clock catching his attention. “It’s late. I’m sorry, doll.”

“What do you want, Steve?” Sharon huffed, irritation replacing the sleep in her voice.

“Nothin’,” Steve denied a little too quickly for his own good. “I just wanted to talk.”

Sharon gave a disappointed groan. “It’s late, Steve.”

“You don’t think I know that? I just apologized for it,” he snapped, his fingers tightening around the bottle of beer on his thigh. “I just want to talk is all. Can’t we talk?”

“It’s two in the morning,” she argued through her teeth.

“So? We used to stay up all night talking,” Steve remembered bitterly.

Sharon was shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, well, we were young and dumb,” she scoffed. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“No, Sharon,” he ground out. “Please don’t hang up on me. I just want to talk.”

“You’re drunk,” Sharon sighed.

Steve slid the beer bottle onto the counter. “Am not.”

“I didn’t say you were drinking. I said you’re drunk.”

“I am not,” Steve said a little louder than before. “If I were drunk, I wouldn’t be callin’. I’d be passed out in your bed where I belong.”

Sharon let out a heavy breath. “We’ve talked about this, Steve. We can’t… I don’t want -”

“To be with your husband,” he finished for her. “Yeah, I got that bit from the delivery boy you sent.”

“I’m not filing for divorce,” she groaned. “It’s just a -”

“Separation,” Steve scoffed loudly. “Still means you don’t want to be with me. Why not? Can’t you explain it to me?”

“I’m hanging up the phone,” she announced. “Don’t call back or I will call the police.”

Steve’s already-boiling blood surged through him even faster. “I am the police, love.”

“Are you.. is that a threat?”

“No, no,” he stammered. “That’s not what I meant at all, love. I would never abuse my power like that.”

“Goodnight, Steven,” she bit out before disconnecting the call.

“Just wanted to talk,” Steve hollered before launching the phone across the room, sending it into the wall. Bits of glass and plastic littered the floor, which Steve begrudgingly cleaned up, after he finished his beer.

He sat down on the couch, another beer in his hands, his mind whirling around like a tornado. God, he just wanted to go home and be with his wife. Why couldn’t he do that? Why wouldn’t she let him come home?!

Shaking his head, he scoffed irritatedly at himself. He knew why, he just couldn’t believe it.

Steve came home from a war that changed him, and not just physically. He had seen things nobody should ever see, heard things no one should ever hear. His brothers in arms had been blown apart less than ten feet from him, they had been taken prisoner and tortured, videos sent as proof and demands shouted in a language Steve didn’t know. He had seen the life drain from their eyes, he had heard their cries for mercy, and if he closed his eyes, he could still hear every single one of them. Steve was fucked in the head, and Sharon couldn’t handle it.

“For better or worse, my ass,” Steve slurred after finishing off his second six pack of beer.

He stumbled into the bedroom where he fell face first onto the bed and started snoring less than five seconds later.